


A Pleasant Encounter

by afteriwake



Category: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Eureka
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-18
Updated: 2012-09-18
Packaged: 2017-11-14 12:28:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/515243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She's not exactly what he expected for a madam turned sex therapist, but he wants to find out more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Pleasant Encounter

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by **entwashian** answer for an icon meme on Livejournal; when asked what two userpics of mine she thought should mate, she picked my Carter and Lady heather icons. And suddenly, I was inspired. Originally titled "A Pleasant Day" but I have a Wholock fic with that title and I didn't want to get them confused.

He'd never thought he'd need to see a former madam turned sex therapist for any reason at all, but he did, and he was completely surprised by Heather Kessler at every turn. He watched as she poured them both a cup of tea. Not the stuff in the teabags, either; she'd had loose leaf in a strainer. Apparently, she loved her tea. And even though he preferred coffee, he was prepared to swallow some tea to get some answers.

"I don't know exactly how I can help you, Sheriff," she said in a voice he found captivating and slightly sensual. He'd been intrigued by her voice from the word "yes?" when she opened the door. "I don't talk about my clients."

"It's not one of your therapy clients," he said as she finished. He stayed quiet as she brought over his cup, which he took with a grin. He could smell the tea and it actually smelled delicious, like the tea Lexi had made when she found that soda made her nauseated. He hoped it tasted as good as it smelled, because he _really_ wasn't a tea person. "One of your former clients, from when you ran a House."

She smiled at him. "I keep those names confidential as well, Sheriff."

"Jack," he said, taking a sip of the tea. Not bad.

"Jack," she said with a nod. "They paid for private treatments, and I intend to keep those treatments and the names of the people who had them private."

"She already told me about you," he said. "I can call her and have her tell you it's okay to talk to me, if that will help convince you."

She thought for a moment before taking a sip of tea. When she set her tea down on the saucer, she inclined her head slightly. "You would actually do that?"

"Anything to get to the truth of the matter," he said with a nod.

"Tell me her name. If she was one of my personal clients, I will remember it, and most likely her voice."

"Virgina Schallert," he said.

Heather thought for a moment, and then nodded. "I do remember her. Red hair, tiny, but with incredible upper body strength?"

"Sounds like her." He pulled out his cell phone and dialed. "She's in lock-up at the sheriff's office, so I can get her on the phone as soon as my deputy picks up."

Heather nodded and continued to sip her tea. He watched her, fascinated, and almost missed Jo answering. It wasn't until she threatened to come after whoever was calling with a really big gun that he realized she'd answered. He quickly told her to put Virginia on the phone, and then passed it to Heather. Heather simply asked for her safety word, and nodded once before handing the phone back to Carter. "Yes, I believe that is her."

"You know from her safe word?" Carter asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.

Heather smirked slightly. "Every client had a unique safety word. Hers was scientific. It stood out."

"She said that she came by to see you two weeks ago. And was here in Vegas for two days. Can you corroborate that?"

She shook her head. "Not that she was here for two days. She did come by, though, wanting to talk to me. I was prepared to gently turn her away, but it turned out she didn't need a treatment. She just wanted to talk. I had no clients for a few hours, so I let her in and we talked for about two hours. Then she left." She took a sip of her tea, a slightly puzzled look on her face. "May I ask why she needs an alibi?"

"As you may have guessed, she's a scientist. One of her experiments was stolen and ended up killing a man she had a grudge against. It happened at eleven AM on Tuesday."

"She was here," Heather said. "She arrived at ten thirty and stayed until twelve thirty."

"And I take it no one else can confirm that?"

She nodded. "We were the only people here."

He thought for a moment, sipping his tea. When it got down to it, it wasn't bad at all. Then he slowly nodded. "I believe you."

She smiled at him. "Good, because it's the truth."

He smiled back and set his tea down. "Well, thank you for your help," he said, standing up.

She looked up at him. "Are you sure you'd like to leave now? You still have tea left to drink."

He looked down at it, and then sat back down. He had a strange urge to stay and talk to her for at least a few more minutes. "I think I can stay until I finish this cup, at least."

"I'm glad," she said. Then she looked at him intently. "So, Jack. Tell me about yourself."

He thought for just a moment before beginning to talk to her about himself. It wasn't until an hour had passed and he took a sip of his now cold tea that he realized she knew a lot about him and he knew nothing about her. When he started to ask, though, she started to tell him about herself. He got immediately that she was hiding a few things, but knowing that she would open up to him at all gave him a profound sense of respect for her. She must have been a good judge of character as well. And when the topic turned to other things, he found himself wanting to stay as long as possible.

It wasn't until the sun had already set when he finally got up to take his leave. She led him to the door and opened it for him, smiling at him. "I believe this has been a fairly enjoyable day," she said.

"Yes, it has," he said with a smile of his own.

She moved to a table and picked up a card, handing it to him. "I used to have conversations like this with a good friend who has since left Las Vegas. If you ever get the urge to continue this conversation, please give me a call."

He nodded and slipped the card into his shirt pocket. "You know, I may just take you up on that."

"I look forward to hearing from you, then," she said as he stepped out into the night. He walked a few steps away when he heard the door close. He turned and looked, amazed at how his day had gone. And he didn't intend to tell anyone else about it, either, for fear of being mocked. He pulled the card out and looked at it with a smile on his face. Yes, the chances of him talking to her again were great...

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Checking In With Local Law Enforcement](https://archiveofourown.org/works/515245) by [afteriwake](https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake)




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